Big Lead Sports Bar

6/28/2007

The Mondesi Show

A while back, I experimented with something called "The Mondesi Show". I've always thought of Mondesi's House as somewhat of a talk-show format in blog form, and The Mondesi Show was your chance to directly voice your opinions on a few hot topics. I kind of got sidetracked with other ideas for the site, and it was never heard from again. But today, in honor of the one-year anniversary of Mondesi's House, The Mondesi Show comes back. I'll throw a few topics out there and you can have the floor.

1) I think it will send a message to ownership...or at least I hope. Side note: Nady's 2 hr were nice last night. 2) Playoffs - wild card, which they win, but lose next round.3) Unlike the Pirates, the Pens know what they are doing. If Esposito doesn't like being in the spotlight, he's at the right spot.4) He'll rebound for sure. Wouldn't mind seeing him in Philly.5) Ravenstahl is crazy, even if I agree with his politics.6) Benoit-my favorite wrestler. I can't believe he's gone. It's one of the weirdest stories I've ever heard. WWE needs to reevaluate a lot of things.

Since I no longer live in the 'burgh I am just reading about the walk out. If they are close to capacity (which supposedly they are expecting) and 36,000 people exit I am not sure how you can ignore that. If this story does not get picked up nationally we can rest assured knowing what a crap baseball market we are in.

I hope the players realize this is more about the organization "leaders" than them. However, if it motivates La Roche to get his ass in gear I will call it a success!

The Benoit thing...shocking. I was a huge wrestling fan growing up and this guy was a superstar even when he was in WCW. Down the road we will probably look back and identify this as what brought the industry down. Which is sad considering all the other untimely deaths....did anyone else read that Scary Sherri (once Macho Man's manager) did last week?

One more thing...on the Esposito pick. The Sports Guy thought it was a fix (that one of the best teams would get one of the best players in the draft so late) so I will take that as a good sign. I can already hear everyone..."what does he know about hockey?" And you're probably right but since I didn't watch one second of the draft and he did I will go with him on this one...

1. The McNuttings don't care if you leave the game or not all they care about is the money. It doesn't matter if you walk out after the first inning or the 7th, you're still giving them the money. If they actually cared what the fans thought/did we would have had a winning team by now. The only way to make the McNuttings go away is not go to any of the games anymore. They will only sell the team when it is no longer profitable.

The Benoit story is dreadful from top to bottom, and it keeps getting worse. But the response to it on certain nonsense cable news networks has been utterly dispicable, as well. Nancy Grace went on the air with pure misinformation, it was almost as though no one in her office was even reading the AP reports. Glenn Beck remained willfully ignorant of the details of Daniel Benoit's medical condition and basically said "Roided up monster Chris Benoit thought his kid was too puny, so he roided him up too!" And of course, always the worst of them all, Bill O'Reilly asserted that the entire thing was Nancy Benoit's fault, for not leaving when she had the chance. Utterly dispicable blame-the-victim woman hating bullshit.

1. I think it's a waste of time. Last year, O's fans did a walkout, held protests, went to Angelos' house with pitchforks and torches -- nothing changed. The real question is if Florian will walk out. 2. Wild card maybe? They get a pass this year because of the coaching change. Super Bowl in two years. 3. We need defense, but we couldn't pass him up. Even if he stinks, I like how they took a risk. 4. #3 after Oden and Durant. 5. I can't knock Ravenstahl's hustle. I would have done the same thing. 6. Pitt logo - Are they holding out on the script because they want to be known as 'Pittsburgh' and not 'Pitt'? That was an issue a couple of years ago. I don't understand why they don't give the fans what they want.

Sadly I don’t think that the planned walkout will have any affect on the state of the Pirates. Only a sustained abstaining of visitation to P.N.C park would could have any direct impact on the decisions made by Pirates ownership, which in a negatively ironic twist would probably lead to the team leaving Da Burgh. I lived in Detroit during the Lions walk out, and despite the national attention it received, noting substantial happened. If you check, the worst G.M not named Isaiah Thomas still holds a office in Ford Field.

When looking at the Ravens schedule which is comprised of pure evil along with thier sordid Q.B situation, and the Browns being well the Brown…a second place finish in the division should be a mere formality. The negative aspect of such a prediction is that in the ridiculously strong AFC such a position even if accomplished with a 10-6 or 11-5 record might not earn them anything more than a draft position that places Steelers fans on house arrest for the first 4 hours of the draft.

Realistic scenario…10-6 record….5th or 6th playoff slot

All I know is that if Tomlin doesn’t garner a record of 11-5 or better ..he is gonna endure a hellish first year

I’ve never seen Esposito play so cant formulate an opinion..

Aaron Gray is horrible. Anybody that drafts him deserves the torment they endure.

I’m not gonna exploit the Chris Benoit situation from any of the myriad of angels it provides. I will just say this tho. Maybe we should stop acting like Jesus just repapered on earth when a athlete gets a speeding ticket, his FRIENDS do something criminal, or steroid specution, and focus on what is a proven earth death steroid related issue

1. The fact that the Pirates have let it get to the point where fans are staging a walkout is just sad. The organization can try to cover it up all they want, but people will still see it and the team will look even worse for hiding it!

By the way, if they want to prevent the walkout they should just give out the Bob Walk bobbleheads to the fans as they leave the park instead of when they come in!

2. Our division seems to have gotten tougher. The Ravens are always tough, the Bungles are soft but they do manage to win some games. I'll say 12-4, and Tomlin-mania sweeps the 'burgh much like Roethlisberger-mania stormed through town back in '04.

By the way, does anyone but me realize that the Steelers always have trouble with those 90s expansion/relocation AFC Central teams. Seriously, the Titans, the Jags, and the Ravens always give us a hard time.

3. We stole Espo. As an Italian, I appreciated Simmons's comments about him having the most Italian name ever. Having two much offensive talent only means that we'll just have something to trade for more defense when the time comes.

4. Gray will go late-first round, maybe early 2nd. Sad that he was supposed to be a lottery-pick a year ago. Pitt's hoops squad will still do well, can't say the same thing about Aaron in the NBA though.

5. I don't live in town and I don't really know the mayor's politics, but I do know that having a young mayor is possibly good for the city's image as a town full of old people. I dig it. I think it's pretty sweet to have a unique mayor as opposed to the same old tight-assed politicians.

And by the way, even though it wasn't in Pittsburgh proper, if you're coming to town and you don't invite the mayor to your golf tournament I think it's pretty disrespectfull not just to him, but to the people he represents in Pittsburgh.

6. I was a big wrestling fan until about 5 years ago. Since then I don't follow it too closely. But Benoit was one hell of an entertainer and seemed like one of the most-grounded and well-respected guys in the business. I'm just shocked that he did that, but I guess in the end he turned out to be a maniac.

And as for the news coverage of it, the mainstream media has never given pro-wrestling a fair shake, so it's no surprise that they aren't now.

I'm not saying they should go easy on Benoit. He was obviously a total shithead. But, of course, they have to blame pro wrestling and Vince McMahon specifically, for what happened. It's pretty ridiculous. I'm kind of tired of the media looking for an angle or some external source to blame when someone snaps.

Whatever happened to just blaming it on the guy that did it? Benoit was a dick, he snapped, went apeshit, killed his family and himself, and will now be remembered as a scumbag. End of story.

Other Sean - just recently. I'll try to make the name say something else. :-)

To the comment re: the Benoit wikipedia entry...this is getting way more press than necessary. It was reported on Sunday that Benoit would be missing a WWE Pay-Per-View event because his family was sick. If two people hear that wrong, you have your answer (e.g., "Oh, Benoit's family is sick." "Did you hear? Benoit's wife was sick, or something." "Yeah, I heard Benoit's wife died.") There's nothing sinister about it, and if you look at the log of the guy who changed it, he was just making up random nonsense on a number of pages. Just a weird coincidence, nothing more.